Group for non-elite football clubs launches, eyeing more balance

BRUSSELS – A new group aiming to represent the interests of “small and medium-sized” European football clubs outside the global elite launched in Brussels on Monday, seeking greater distribution of funds to smaller clubs and create more balanced European competitions.

The Union of European Clubs (UEC), which will be based in the Belgian capital, said some 1,400 professional clubs were not taking part in European competitions, had no voice in decisions taken by governing body Uefa and essentially do not have any proper representation among the sport’s governance.

Representatives of 40 clubs from 25 countries attended the launch, including England’s Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion, Spain’s Sevilla and Valencia and Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach.

The UEC will accept membership applications from professional clubs playing in top two national leagues, seeing 200 members as “reasonable to target” by the end of 2023. Membership is free.

However, a challenge the group faces is that the rival European Club Association (ECA) is now the only clubs body Uefa recognises.

The ECA represents more than 200 clubs across the continent although it is dominated by the big teams, including some of the 12 initially involved in a planned breakaway Super League.

The exact structure of the UEC remains vague as it is yet to appoint a management team or publish statutes, but it said it intends to function “in addition to” the powerful ECA.

Palace chairman Steve Parish, a speaker at the Brussels event, said he did not feel his club was represented anywhere at European level. Javier Tebas, president of Spain’s La Liga, which backs the UEC venture, added that the ECA represented only the elite.

Other speakers included Alex Muzio, president of Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise, who reached the Europa League quarter-finals two seasons after playing in Belgium’s second tier.

“I fear we’re becoming something of an exception, a rarity. Big clubs are getting bigger and small clubs getting smaller,” he said.

The UEC also said access to European competition should remain based on domestic league results, with more balanced revenue sharing. Its backers also question why Uefa gives more prize money to clubs that have done better in the past than to equal-performing newcomers. 

Neither Uefa nor the ECA, which together run Europe’s most lucrative club competitions including the Champions League, were willing to comment on the new organisation.

Uefa and the ECA also have an agreement with world football’s governing body Fifa over the international match calendar and compensation payments to clubs for the release of players to international duty. REUTERS, AFP